Academic Freedom

Defending academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas on campus is a central principle for United Academics Maryland. By organizing ourselves into strong unions, we can build the power to defend academic freedom through collective bargaining, direct action, and in our involvement in professional and political affairs.

The concept of academic freedom is based on the idea that the free exchange of ideas on campus is essential to good education. Specifically, academic freedom is the right of faculty members, acting both as individuals and as a collective, to determine without outside interference:

1. the college curriculum;
2. course content;
3. teaching;
4. student evaluation; and
5. the conduct of scholarly inquiry.

Academic freedom ensures that colleges and universities are "safe havens" for inquiry, places where students and scholars can challenge the conventional wisdom of any field—art, science, politics or others.

AFT Statement on Academic Freedom:
www.aft.org/sites/default/files/academicfreedomstatement0907.pdf

AAUP resources on protecting academic freedom:
https://www.aaup.org/our-work/protecting-academic-freedom

 cover image via istock photo erhui1979